What are some of your favorite bands with great bassists? I really like the the bassist in Vulfpeck. Looking for other groups to listen to and get inspired.
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Tool-Justin Chancellor. His bass lines carry most of their songs. Listen to “The Pot” for a taste.
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I’m afraid most of mine will come from many years ago and were those I learned from by listening to them play. We didn’t have internet instruction or books with bass tab we had to learn bass lines off records and teach one another. And that still works today so do it for each other.
Those I admire are players like; Paul McCartney, Carol Kaye, Bob Babbitt, James Jamerson, Duck Dunn. Jeremy Jermott, George Porter Jr, David Hood, Randy Meisner, Timothy Schmid, Larry Graham, Bootsy Collins, Leland Sklar, Sting, and a whole lot of others more my age.
I’m sure there are more modern players who are also great bassists I just don’t listen to their music so I’m in the dark about them. But the role of a bassist has surely advanced over the years with the bass more out in front than it ever was on my hey day and IMHO that’s a good thing.
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If you like Vulpeck then you’ll like Cory Wong. He has a revolving list of awesome bassist playing.
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Joy Division - Peter Hook
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Geddy Lee of Rush, Terry Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath, JohnEntWhistle of The Who. Stanley Clark, Marcus Miller, and Victor Wooten also known as SMV. And so many more…
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This is simple, Duran Duran.
John Taylor’s bass lines are the core of every song and underpin a unique sound that has seen them enjoy a career of 45 years. Some bass lines are simple, but many are ridiculously hard. Their music has been part of the wallpaper of my life since I first heard them, way back in the early 80s.
He’s played some cool basses, the Aria Pro II, the Factor (maaan, I want one of those!), Peaveys, and now the Dingwall (ha! I bought one, although not the new Signature one).
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Eugene Abdukhanov of Jinjer doesn’t get enough credit.
But… Lemmy
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Lemmy? He wasn’t a bassist, he was a rhythm guitarist who happened to hold a bass 
Saw them twice, once with Girlschool in support, the second time with The Damned. Now that was a great night out!
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Chris Squire of Yes and Glenn Cornick of Jethro Tull.
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I’m gonna jump on the Vulfpeck bandwagon here as well. Joe Dart is one of the main reasons that I’m playing bass right now.
There’s also the greats like what’s his name from The Who and that guy from Led Zeppelin who wasn’t Page, Plant or Bonham but everyone talks about them.
Here’s one I’ve yet to see mentioned on this site: Steve Jay (and the search confirms that. Zero mention at all). Who is Steve Jay? He’s the bass player for Weird Al Yankovic. While I wouldn’t call him innovative, the talent is through the roof due to the range of styles that he has to be able to play. Hell, I don’t think Al’s band as a whole gets anywhere near the recognition it deserves.
Finally, no love for Jamiroquai and Paul Turner? Talk about some disco funk.
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I’ll jump in.
Obviously, Geddy Lee from Rush is hard to ignore. Other might include Les Claypool from Primus (among other projects), Bootsy Collins, John Taylor (Duran Duran - mentioned above - dude’s a monster, check out the bassline from Rio), Flea, Victor Wooten, and you HAVE to deep dive into Jaco Pastorius (well, you don’t HAVE to, but I highly recommend it, lol)
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Black Sabbath, Geezer Butler. Geddy Lee, Rush
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Bootsy Collins and his Space Bass!
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Just to throw out a name that i don’t think has been mentioned, Faith No More with Billy Gould…
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Dream Theater hands down. John Myung is a beast!
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Super creative band that was way ahead of their time. Nice call out!
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Mudvayne is a fun listen
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Soften the Glare also. Ryan is just fantastic.
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Riverside-Great bassist that uses a lot of chording in his approach to playing, Mariusz Duda
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